You could argue that most of the DW novels are stand alone. Aside from COM & LF, I think G! G! should be read before Men At Arms. Likewise, Witches Abroad should be read before Lords & Ladies, but that might be it. I didn't actually read these books in order first time round, just saying in hindsight.

For every book that someone says /must/ be read only after the previous one in the sub-sequence, there is someone else who read it as their first Pratchett book and enjoyed it. They are all standalones - except, in my opinion, COM, which should always be bound together with LF, and that's because the end of COM stopped me from reading Pratchett for four or five years. I've seen enough copies in the thrift shops to believe that I'm not the only one who had that reaction.

Oh yea well you live and learn,Thanks for that Dotsie , I quite agree with Tamar though about Old Ricewind's exploits he always seems to be running away from something doesn't he, he's not my favourite character, but he's ok i suppose. I can't wait to re read all of them all in order to see if i like them any better.

Alanz wrote: I quite agree with Tamar though about Old Rincewind's exploits he always seems to be running away from something doesn't he, he's not my favourite character, but he's ok i suppose. I can't wait to re read all of them all in order to see if i like them any better.

Definitely reread them!

I don't mind Rincewind; I minded the ending of the first book, which wasn't a cliffhanger at first, it was just The End, until Sir Terry wrote the second novel. It just didn't fit with the rest of the book. I still don't understand why it was so popular with that ending.

I believe I actually like Rincewind more than Sir Terry does, because I do see some development in his character. Rincewind does more than just run away. He will stand up for himself and others, and he eventually figures out how his life works and learns to deal with it emotionally. I realize that all that makes more sense if you are into the idea of figuring out your life pattern and working with it, which is more of a Granny Weatherwax attitude than it might seem at first. If you can gain enough distance to see what kind of story you seem to be acting out, you can get some control of it, or at least understand it. Rincewind went from a drop-out to having a professorship with about as much security as any UU professor can expect. Given where he started and his peculiar talents, that's not bad.

Dotsie wrote:That explains the ending, but not why it was popular. For me, it was the one liners & observations, had me ROFL as they say.

Right. I liked the one liners, etc., but the end ruined the whole thing for me. You just don't create a sensible, intelligent viewpoint character for comedy, lead the reader into identifying with that character, and then kill them at the end for no reason. That's a betrayal of the reader. It appeared that he killed the character just to end the skit, like the worst of the Monty Python stuff. TLF wasn't planned then; at the time, Sir Terry had no reason to assume that there would ever be any more. That ending was probably his worst-ever writing decision.

Dotsie wrote:That explains the ending, but not why it was popular. For me, it was the one liners & observations, had me ROFL as they say.

Right. I liked the one liners, etc., but the end ruined the whole thing for me. You just don't create a sensible, intelligent viewpoint character for comedy, lead the reader into identifying with that character, and then kill them at the end for no reason. That's a betrayal of the reader. It appeared that he killed the character just to end the skit, like the worst of the Monty Python stuff. TLF wasn't planned then; at the time, Sir Terry had no reason to assume that there would ever be any more. That ending was probably his worst-ever writing decision.

It also was a send up of the Fantasy genre of the time, so the ending was representative of that fact.

He willnae tak' a drink! I think he's deid! , on the other hand though A Midgie in yir hand is worth twa up yir kilt.